EA v Glastonbury Festival

John Cooper QC successfully persuaded the court in a two day ‘Newton’ hearing that the culpability of the Festival was low in relation to a category 2 pollution incident at the 2014 festival. The case concerned the discharge of urine from a storage tank into the River Whitelake.

The incident was originally alleged to be category 1 level harm case caused by negligence. The court sentenced on the basis of level 2 category 2 harm with low culpability. After hearing evidence the judge found that Glastonbury’s response was appropriate for the incident and found its systems and their enforcement to be compliant

The EA agreed after the ruling to have a 2015 issue taken into consideration and dealt with at the same time. The Fine was reduced to a total of £12,000.